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He's still young. He's left handed. He's been successful at the ML level. The demand for young pitching FAR exceeds the supply. Baltimore's player development system is still considered flawed so some team might think they know better than us.

I still think that Matusz has some value and whether that's in the bullpen or the rotation I see no reason to rush to a conclusion on a young lefty and cut him after this year. He still has 2 more years of service time left and keep in mind he's only 25. Obviously the key to him getting better is his mentality. If he is indeed hesitant to accept some changes than he'll seal his own fate. Having him stashed in Norfolk for the next two years and hoping he becomes more humble and figures it out is just fine for me. That's what AAA is for. It's a bummer that this is where a former first round pick is at this point in his career but as other younger pitching prospects like Bundy and Gausman pass him in the depth chart for the major league rotation maybe he'll decide that he needs to change his approach.

time will tell but I'm willing to wait for someone whom I still feel has plenty of talent that's worth salvaging. He has a great changeup and he had good command and control not only 2 years ago so we'll see.

Honestly I still say it's premature to say he's done as a starter. He could easily become a quality #4 or even #5 guy. Yes, he's had three years to get it right but he was rushed to the majors rather stupidly by Andy McPhail. Why? Because the staff he had in place was absolutely abysmal. He looked just fine in AA Bowie and should have been left to develop. He was labeled "Top of the Rotation" then "Potential Ace" as his ceiling a few years ago and we all would have accepted a middle of the rotation guy as a floor. What happened? Why it happened? What changed? All that doesn't matter. He needs to sit in the minor leagues and prove he's ready. If his ceiling is now a league average starter or even long relief then so be it. But he better figure out how to get through an inning in fifteen pitches, as I do not think he ever had stellar velocity.

Now after two appearances as a reliever the results do not look favorable. OK. Can this guy pitch at all?

To me this just shows why the organization needs to remain focused on acquiring starting pitching in the off-season. Chen and Hammels were great acquisitions for the club. They will need to do that again this year. The Draft and better development of prospects is going to remain the best way the club can help itself.